Pearl | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band | ||||
Released | January 11, 1971 | |||
Recorded | July 27 –October 4, 1970 | |||
Studio | Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 34:09 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Paul A. Rothchild | |||
Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Pearl | ||||
|
Pearl is the second and final solo studio album (and fourth album overall) by American singer Janis Joplin, released on January 11, 1971, by Columbia Records. The album was released three months after Joplin's death on October 4, 1970. It was the final album with Joplin's direct participation, and her only album recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, her final touring unit. It peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, holding that spot for nine weeks.
Pearl has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [1] It was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". [2]
The album has a more polished sound than those Joplin recorded with Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Kozmic Blues Band, due to the expertise of producer Paul A. Rothchild and new backing musicians. Rothchild was best-known as the recording studio producer of The Doors and worked well with Joplin, calling her a "producer's dream". Together they were able to craft an album showcasing her extraordinary vocal talents; they used Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles.
The Full Tilt Boogie Band were the musicians who accompanied her on the Festival Express, a concert tour of Canada by train, in the summer of 1970. Many of the songs on this album were recorded on the concert stage in Canada two months before Joplin and the band started their LA recording sessions. The band also appeared twice on The Dick Cavett Show and played many American cities before and after Festival Express, though no recordings of those concerts were officially released.
All nine tracks Joplin sings on were personally approved and arranged by Joplin. Pearl features the #1 hit "Me and Bobby McGee", written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster (Joplin played acoustic guitar on this track); "Trust Me", by Bobby Womack, written for Joplin; Howard Tate's "Get It While You Can", showcasing her vocal range; and the original songs "Move Over" and "Mercedes Benz", the latter co-written by Joplin, Bobby Neuwirth, and Michael McClure.
Joplin sang on all tracks except "Buried Alive in the Blues", which was a backing track on which she had not yet recorded vocals. The song's writer Nick Gravenites was offered the chance to sing it as a tribute to Joplin but turned it down, so the song ended up as an instrumental. He later sang it with Joplin’s former band Big Brother and the Holding Company for their 1971 album How Hard It Is . The recording sessions, starting in early September, ended with Joplin's untimely death in 1970. Her final session, which took place Thursday, October 1 after a break of several days, yielded her a cappella "Mercedes Benz." It was the last song she recorded before her death. [3] The album cover, photographed by Barry Feinstein in Los Angeles, [4] [5] shows Joplin reclining on her Victorian era loveseat with a drink in her hand. [6]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [7] |
Rolling Stone | (favorable) [8] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [9] |
The Village Voice | A− [10] |
In 2003, the album was ranked number 122 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, [11] moving to 125 in a 2012 revised listing. [12] It was moved to a 259 ranking in the 2020 list. In 2010, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [13]
In 1993 Columbia reissued the album on 24kt gold CD as part of their MasterSound series, this edition was remastered by Vic Anesini using the Super Bit Mapping process. [14] In 1999 it was remastered again for the Box Of Pearls box set, this version was also mastered by Vic Anesini, it included four previously unreleased live recordings from the Festival Express Tour, recorded on July 4, 1970, as bonus tracks; it was also released as a standalone release. [15] A two-disc Legacy Edition was released on June 14, 2005, with six bonus tracks including a birthday message to John Lennon of " Happy Trails ," and a reunion of the Full Tilt Boogie Band in an instrumental tribute to Joplin. The second disc included an expanded set from the Festival Express Tour, recorded between June 28 and July 4, 1970. The album was again reissued again in 2012 as The Pearl Sessions. It contains the original album, six mono mixes, two live tracks and alternate takes of the songs that constituted the Pearl vinyl album when Columbia Records released it in 1971. Recordings of Joplin and Paul Rothchild talking between takes give the listener insight into their creative musical process. In 2016 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released the album on SACD and double 45 RPM vinyl, the SACD was mastered by Rob LoVerde while the vinyl was cut by Kreig Wunderlich assisted by LoVerde. [16] [17]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Move Over" | Janis Joplin | 3:39 |
2. | "Cry Baby" | Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns | 3:55 |
3. | "A Woman Left Lonely" | Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham | 3:27 |
4. | "Half Moon" | John Hall, Johanna Hall | 3:51 |
5. | "Buried Alive in the Blues" | Nick Gravenites | 2:24 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "My Baby" | Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman | 3:44 |
2. | "Me and Bobby McGee" | Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster | 4:28 |
3. | "Mercedes Benz" | Janis Joplin, Bob Neuwirth, Michael McClure | 1:46 |
4. | "Trust Me" | Bobby Womack | 3:15 |
5. | "Get It While You Can" | Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman (Howard Tate 1966 rendition) | 3:23 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
11. | "Tell Mama" (Festival Express Tour, July 4, 1970) | Clarence Carter, Marcus Daniel, Wilbur Terrell | 6:32 |
12. | "Little Girl Blue" (Festival Express Tour, July 4, 1970) | Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart | 3:50 |
13. | "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" (Festival Express Tour, July 4, 1970) | Jerry Ragovoy, Chip Taylor | 6:52 |
14. | "Cry Baby" (Festival Express Tour, July 4, 1970) | Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns | 6:29 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
11. | "Happy Birthday, John (Happy Trails)" | Dale Evans | 1:12 |
12. | "Me and Bobby McGee" (demo version) | Kristofferson, Foster | 4:46 |
13. | "Move Over" (alternate version) | Joplin | 4:27 |
14. | "Cry Baby" (alternate version) | Ragovoy, Berns | 4:59 |
15. | "My Baby" (alternate version) | Ragovoy, Shuman | 3:59 |
16. | "Pearl" (instrumental) | Full Tilt Boogie Band | 4:29 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Tell Mama" (Toronto, June 28, 1970) | Clarence Carter, Marcus Daniel, Wilbur Terrell | 6:49 |
2. | "Half Moon" (Toronto) | John Hall, Johanna Hall | 4:38 |
3. | "Move Over" (Calgary, July 4, 1970) | Janis Joplin | 4:41 |
4. | "Maybe" (Winnipeg, July 1, 1970) | Richard Barrett | 3:57 |
5. | "Summertime" (Winnipeg) | Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin | 4:39 |
6. | "Little Girl Blue" (Calgary) | Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart | 5:10 |
7. | "That's Rock 'n' Roll" (Toronto) | Full Tilt Boogie Band | 5:03 |
8. | "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" (Toronto) | Jerry Ragovoy, Chip Taylor | 9:11 |
9. | "Kozmic Blues" (Toronto) | Janis Joplin, Gabriel Mekler | 5:29 |
10. | "Piece of My Heart" (Toronto) | Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns | 5:21 |
11. | "Cry Baby" (Toronto) | Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns | 6:31 |
12. | "Get It While You Can" (Calgary) | Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman | 7:20 |
13. | "Ball and Chain" (Calgary) | Willie Mae Thornton | 8:15 |
Full Tilt Boogie Band
Additional personnel
Technical
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [31] | 4× Platinum | 400,000^ |
Japan (RIAJ) [32] 1990 release | Gold | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [33] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [1] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals, as well as her "electric" stage presence.
The Doors is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on January 4, 1967, by Elektra Records. It was recorded in August 1966 at Sunset Sound Recorders, in Hollywood, California, under the production of Paul A. Rothchild. The album features the extended version of the band's breakthrough single "Light My Fire" and the lengthy closer "The End" with its Oedipal spoken word section. Various publications, including BBC and Rolling Stone, have listed The Doors as one of the greatest debut albums of all time.
Exile on Main St. is the tenth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 12 May 1972, by Rolling Stones Records. The 10th released in the UK and 12th in the US, it is viewed as a culmination of a string of the band's most critically successful albums, following Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969) and Sticky Fingers (1971). Exile on Main St. is known for its murky, inconsistent sound due to more disjointed musicianship and production, along with a party-like atmosphere heard in several tracks.
Ten is the debut studio album by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released on August 27, 1991, through Epic Records. Following the dissolution of their previous band Mother Love Bone in 1990, bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard began rehearsing with new guitarist Mike McCready. The group recorded a five-song instrumental demo tape that included contributions from Matt Cameron on drums. Copies of the demo were eventually given to drummer Dave Krusen and vocalist Eddie Vedder, both of whom were invited to audition for the band in Seattle. Many of the songs on Ten were instrumental jams or reworked Mother Love Bone songs for which Vedder provided lyrics.
Morrison Hotel is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on February 9, 1970, by Elektra Records. After the use of brass and string arrangements recommended by producer Paul A. Rothchild on their previous album, The Soft Parade (1969), the Doors returned to their blues rock style and this album was largely seen as a return to form for the band. The group entered Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles in November 1969 to record the album which is divided into two separately titled sides, namely: "Hard Rock Café" and "Morrison Hotel". Blues rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan also contributed to the album as session bassists.
L.A. Woman is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on April 19, 1971, by Elektra Records. It is the last to feature lead singer Jim Morrison during his lifetime, due to his death exactly two months and two weeks following the album's release, though he would posthumously appear on the 1978 album An American Prayer. Even more so than its predecessors, the album is heavily influenced by blues. It was recorded without producer Paul A. Rothchild after he quit the band over the perceived lack of quality in their studio performances. Subsequently, the band co-produced the album with longtime sound engineer Bruce Botnick.
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Gordon Lightfoot released a version that reached number 1 on the Canadian country charts in 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis released a version that was number 1 on the country charts in December 1971/January 1972 as the "B" side of "Would You Take Another Chance on Me". Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.
Paul Allen Rothchild was a prominent American record producer of the 1960s and 1970s, widely known for his historic work with the Doors, producing Janis Joplin's final album Pearl and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's first two albums.
British Steel is the sixth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 11 April 1980 by Columbia Records. It was the band's first album to feature Dave Holland on drums.
Cheap Thrills is the second studio album by American rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, released on August 12, 1968, by Columbia Records. Cheap Thrills was the band's final album with lead singer Janis Joplin before she left to begin a solo career. For Cheap Thrills, the band and producer John Simon incorporated recordings of crowd noises to give the impression of a live album, for which it was subsequently mistaken by many listeners. Only "Ball and Chain" was actually recorded live in concert, at the grand opening of the Fillmore East on March 8th, 1968.
John Till was a Canadian musician. He was noted for co-founding The Revols, as well as heading Full Tilt Boogie Band, which was Janis Joplin's last backup band.
Eric Clapton is the debut solo studio album by English rock musician Eric Clapton, released in August 1970 by Atco and Polydor Records.
"Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart in the United States.
The Rose is the soundtrack to the feature film of the same name starring Bette Midler, released in 1979.
In Concert is a live album by Janis Joplin. It was released in 1972, after Joplin's death, as a double-LP record. The first record contains performances with Big Brother and the Holding Company and the second with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, recorded at various locations in 1968 and 1970. The album lacks any live recordings with her first solo effort with the Kozmic Blues band though songs that had been produced with that band were performed in the recordings of the Full Tilt Boogie Band. The photographs used for the gatefold album were taken by photographer David Gahr in New York City in 1969 and 1970.
Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits is a 1973 collection of hit songs by American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin, who died in 1970. It features live versions of Down on Me and Ball and Chain which were included on the album In Concert the previous year.
Janis is a collection of performances by Janis Joplin, issued in 1975 as a compilation album containing film soundtrack and live recordings. Disc one is subtitled "From the soundtrack of the motion picture Janis ". In addition to concert recordings from Toronto and Frankfurt, there are several short TV-interviews. Disc two contains recordings from Austin, Texas, plus four recordings from San Francisco (1965). The album booklet contains a photo documentary, with 22 pictures from Janis Joplin's life and career.
Full Tilt Boogie Band was a Canadian rock band originally headed by guitarist John Till and then by vocalist Janis Joplin until her death in 1970. The band was composed of Till, pianist Richard Bell, bassist Brad Campbell, drummer Clark Pierson, and organist Ken Pearson.
18 Essential Songs is a collection of songs recorded throughout Janis Joplin's career released in 1995 by Columbia Records. It included songs from her solo career as well as with Big Brother & the Holding Company. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it as gold on April 12, 1999.
The Pearl Sessions is a compilation album by Janis Joplin released in 2012. It contains alternate takes of the songs that constituted the album Pearl posthumously released by Columbia Records in 1971. Recordings of Joplin and producer Paul Rothchild talking between takes give the listener insight into their creative musical process.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)